Up to 150,000 additional lives a year could potentially be saved by first aid according to St John Ambulance. 29,000 alone die each year of a heart attack. Not all would be saved but St John's simple contention is that if more people are trained and willing to have a go at saving a life we would stand a better chance - at present around two thirds of us say we would not feel capable of offering any first aid if confronted with a life or death situation.
St John has been pushing its message hard this month across Sussex as part of its "Save a Life September" campaign. Across the country thousands of courses have been delivered in basic first aid. I was delighted to join HDC's Chairman, Tricia Youtan, and other local people for a three hour course at Warnham early in the month. It's not easy for any of us to find 3 hours in busy lives but I was so glad I did.
My last course was at school and I now feel better equipped to face the circumstances none of us want to encounter when first aid may urgently be required. Many courses continue to be available across the county and details can be found on the St John website. In November a campaign will be brought to Westminster to require all schools to teach first aid.
While I will await the debate I am always nervous about legislating for what heads should teach outside of the core curriculum (in the last week alone I have had three other similar suggestions put to me). However there is no doubt that for all of us, whatever age, being able to do undertake basic first aid and use the defibrillators which are both highly effective and increasingly available in our communities is time well spent.